


Waffle Queens

by RandyWrites



Category: Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2019-10-13 19:58:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17494331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandyWrites/pseuds/RandyWrites
Summary: yet another rarepair one-shot collection. BUT THIS TIME - its stephrae!





	1. Chapter 1

“Be honest,” the Spoiler started after taking a sip from her milkshake, “When you got your cloak blown off. You knew that you were reaching for the wrong one, right?”

The empath avoided contact with Stephanie’s eyes, fiddling with the straw on her own shake before setting it next to her on the ledge.

Sitting atop the Grand Avenue Monorail Station was quickly becoming one of Steph’s favorite post-mission hangouts. Especially since it brought so much of her favorite spots in Gotham into easy view. Across the bay’s nightly mist, the Clocktower stood proud and tall, like a monolith rising from the deep.

The city bustled sleepily below them, a quiet descending that one could only appreciate at the oddest of hours. When most citizens would be sound asleep, and when most heroes would turn in for the night, here the Spoiler and the Raven were, enjoying chocolate milkshakes and decompressing after another uneventful night patrol. It felt like the right time, to bring up their first introduction to one another, after spending so much of this mission in otherwise companionable silence.

At least, compared to how chatty Steph usually got. Which was to say, very.

“It all happened so fast… But yes,” Raven finally admitted, albeit a little sheepishly, Steph thought. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the mystic then, gesturing with her shake in hand accusingly.

“Your cloak. It stopped me from being totally vaporized-”

“Uh, you’re welcome?”

“-I’m not finished. It also needed some serious T-L-C, girl. When was the last time you hemmed or patched ‘em up? Or even washed-”

“That one was on its last leg,” Raven interrupted her once more, gently pushing Steph’s shake away from her face, “That stray beam you were struck by? Pretty much knocked out whatever was left keeping it together. Magic or otherwise.”

“So that’s why it disintegrated after that mission? I wasn’t just going insane?”

“Why else do you think I bought us these apology milkshakes?” she asked as she tapped her own shake playfully against Steph’s.

“Because Dick or Tim told you that the fastest way to my heart was with food?”

There was a pause as Raven took a sip of her own shake then, and Steph nearly spat out her shake in shocking realization.

“No. Wait. Did they really tell you-”

“I’ll plead the fifth.”

Steph let out a groan as she ran her hand over her face. “Unbelievable.” Shaking her head, the vigilante turn the shake around in her hands, considering the peace offering it had evidently become. “But I gotta say, not the best way to get through to me. If they really wanted to let you know how to get on my good side-”

“They’d say to treat you to waffles at Pauli’s Diner a few blocks over?” The mystic laughed at the candid look of horror on Steph’s face then.

“Dick told me you can’t read-”

“No, but I’ve been to enough of the cafes here to know that Pauli’s is probably one of the better, if not the best.”

“Hmm, no accounting for taste. But I think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship, my breakfast-loving-bird-themed friend.”

“Very well could be,” she agreed. They finished their milkshakes in companionable silence as the night skyline began to lighten. Townhouses and skyscrapers alike were coming to life with the first hints of the approaching dawn. Another day’s beginning for a city in such desperate need of its heroes.


	2. Chapter 2

“You know, I could have made a pretty good Robin,” the empath began as she looked over her reflection in the mirror.

As they were left waiting in those odds hours before nightfall, Stephanie and Raven were steadily running out of distractions to keep the boredom away. Batgirl’s patrol wouldn’t start for another two hours. And likewise, Raven’s shift at the hospital was another hour away.

So when Steph had suggested bringing out old costumes for comparisons, and to trade war stories, Raven hadn’t fought with her on it. Not too hard, at any rate.

This led to the usually  _blue_  bird to be wrapped, currently, all too snugly inside fabrics of red and green. The tunic’s fabric was strained against the empath’s chest. The red skirt that had been the perfect size on Steph so many years ago, now barely reached to cover the beginning of Raven’s long legs. Stephanie wondered for a moment if the green tights Raven had on now were pulled from her own wardrobe, though she couldn’t be certain. To top it all off, she even had the red headband on, securely keeping inky black bangs out of her face.

With a domino mask to cover distinct eyes, Steph didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry at the vision of ready-made Robin right before her.

“Not that Bruce needs another one-”

“Take it off,” Steph blurted. She felt her face becoming flush at the outburst, but now wasn’t the time to wonder where it was coming from. She shifted on their bed as Raven turned her head slowly to look at her.

“Excuse me?” Under the mask she quirked her eyebrow, which brought the most cartoonish shape and expression to her face now. This was what finally broke the Batgirl.

“You heard me,” she laughed before clearing her throat and repeating more forcefully, “Take. It. Off.”

Raven now turned her whole body to face the woman lounging across their bed, fidgeting nervously with one of their pillows under her gaze. She sauntered over to Steph, placing her hands on either side of the smaller woman’s body and leaning slowly, close to her face and she let a small grin grace her lips.

“Make me,” she challenged as the grin spread into what Steph could only describe as an absolutely maniacal smile.

And she should know a thing or two about maniacal smiles.

With shaky hands, she reached up to peel off Raven’s mask. Her fingers, however, had other ideas as they instead began tracing light trails along the empath’s face, before firmly gripping either side and pulling her girlfriend down the rest of the way into a soft kiss.


	3. Chapter 3

Under a constant layer of smog and light-polluted black skies, Gotham City’s atmosphere almost  _demanded_  that it rain more often than was average, considering the climate. This wasn’t something that bothered Raven. The darkness of the city was familiar, comforting even. And those small spots of light kept it from being overbearing, naturally.

One such spots of light, was the Batgirl standing atop a gargoyle in front of her, arms splayed out to either side and taking in the full brunt of the downpour as lightning struck dangerously at the top of a nearby building. Raven saw a smile, of all things, gracing her lips in its light.

“We’re in the middle of a  _thunderstorm_ ,” she called to Stephanie after the crack of thunder finished rolling around them, “And you wanna stop and feel the rain?”

“It’s like the song, Rae.  _No one else can feel it for you_ ,” she chirped back before reaching for her belt. “But we can get back on mission if you’re really-” She stopped as Raven reached to still her hand, tugging gently for her to step back onto the balcony. “-Worried?”

“You only just recovered from that cracked rib,” the empath explained as Steph stepped back toward the balcony beside her. “And, historically speaking, it’s not like you’re the most sure-footed of the bats. No offense, love.”

“Well,  _sorry_ ,” she sang as she walked along the railing, using it as her own personal balance beam, “that we can’t all be former  _acrobats_  and  _assassins_ ….  _Although_ , that  _could_  make a good-” Steph shrugged and, as if to prove Raven’s point, her foot took the opportunity to slip on the railing’s slick surface. She was saved by Raven’s warm hand taking hold of her wrist, pulling her back to safety before she dipped too far to the wrong side.

“Thanks, babe.”

“You can  _thank me_  by not incurring any more injuries for at least a  _few_ nights.”

“I make  _no such promises_ ,” the bat smiled deviously as she took out her grapnel gun, “I gotta keep you busy  _somehow_.” Raven reached over to still her arm once more before she could fire the line.

“I can think of another few ways to keep us  _both_  busy,” she whispered in Steph’s ear. And as the cogs began turning in the Bat’s head over what exactly the empath could mean by such a bold statement, she had disappeared into the shadows around them.


	4. “I’ll Walk It Off”

"So what's the prognosis, doc? Am I gonna live?" Steph grimaced through the pain as Raven tried her best to gently prod at the injury, checking for tenderness and swelling.

She’d been lucky, that Bruce had brought her back to the cave in such a timely manner. Lucky that her girlfriend had stayed behind to play medic for the evening. Lucky that is was only her leg that had been broken. 

"Nope, in fact, I'd say you have about two months," Raven shook her head, "If _I_ don't get to you first. How did this happen?"

“Ya gotta understand, Rae, it was a _really_ long jump, and I didn't release fast enough and- _OW_!" She cried out, cutting herself off as her nurse not-so-gently reset the bone, then brought over the splint. As the Titan held the splint against the Robin's leg, she muttered under her breath, hands glowing a gentle blue.

Stephanie lay still for a moment before letting out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, as she felt the strange sensation of skin magically stitching itself back together, and as the pain finally, _finally_ was relieved.

" _Sadist_ ," Steph lightly accused, humor returning as she felt the bone setting. Everything was feeling better, and lighter, and was _definitely_ a side-effect of Raven’s powers working through her system, but she was more willing to ride the feeling than go back to how it was moments ago.

“If it helps to stop you and the rest of Bruce’s kids from nearly killing yourselves-“

“ _I’m not his kid_.”

“She’s not my kid,” Bruce echoed, calling back over his shoulder before he returned attention to the batcomputer.

Raven rolled her eyes, before launching right back into her lecture.

“No unnecessary risks for a month. That’s all I ask. Otherwise you _will_ be on your own with the next one of _these_ ,” she poked purposely at the mostly healed injury, letting the pain settle back into the bone. Steph let out a soft whine at the jab.

Not to be outdone, and not one to let her girlfriend get the last word in, she motioned for Raven to come in close. Her heart thumped a little faster as the empath obliged.

"I'll _walk it off_ ," Steph promised, closing the distance between them to sneak a quick kiss of thanks to the Titan’s cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt request from my tumblr @dyketectivecomics


	5. Team Player

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> snip for stephrae weekend! day one!

“Six!” Robin laughed as she flipped another goon over her shoulder and followed quickly with a jab to his throat. She wheeled around on the next of Two-Face’s henchmen. Sure, that other one probably wasn’t  _completely_  down, but she still had a significant lead considering-

“ _Match point_ ,” Raven called from across the room as Stephanie finished incapacitating her final foe. The Titan had the rest of the goons, mostly conscious and all collectively bound telekinetically by the very same rigging and curtains that had fallen in the middle of the fight. She smirked as the Robin’s face became as red as her tunic. 

“And that’s the game.  _Eight to seven_. My favor-”

“Best two outta three!” the Bat immediately challenged, smiling as her girlfriend chuckled good-naturedly.

“Love, you’re forgetting about the mission last week. With  _HIVE_ -”

“Three outta five,” she corrected, reaching for the empaths hand as she tried to pull her best puppy-dog face out, mask be damned. She got on one knee, her tone pleading, if a little overdramatic, “It’s part of my training, Rae! I gotta show the boss I’ve got what it takes to run with the Titans too! Teamwork and all that!”

“That pout would be much more effective if I could see your eyes, you know,” Raven smiled, tugging on her hand gently, gesturing for her to stand. She pulled the Robin close to her as the wrapped her arms around the girl’s waist. “But maybe I could be convinced… for the right price.” Her eyes glanced down from Stephanie’s masked eyes down to her lips and quickly back up, expectant.

Steph’s heart skipped a beat as she hesitated. She nearly jumped out of her skin as one of the goons cleared his throat.

“ _Listen_ , uh… ah hate to break up a  _moment_  here between youse goils-” he began before Steph turned on him with a tomato red face.

“ _Then don’t_!” She snapped. And the empath laughed as she gave her Robin a quick peck upon her cheek before turning attention back to the goon.


	6. Waffles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> day two, a Staple for this pair

Running her hands over her face, Robin wondered idly if the staff around them would care if she took off the mask.

After all, it was  _four in the morning_ , at a  _Waffle House_ , in  _Gotham City_  no less. They’d seen much stranger things than her before.

She played with her fork a moment as her eyes scanned the restaurant, watching as most of the drunks gained sobriety enough to return to the night from which they came. Even a Saturday night (or Sunday morning, as Raven kept insisting) in Gotham wasn’t enough to deter the most determined of partygoers.

Only those either too naive to know what a Gotham Night entailed, or those too seasoned to care, ever seemed brave enough to take such a reckless chance. But she supposed the regular appearances of the Titan had helped everyone breathe a little easier as well.

Her fork clattered as she lost her grip on it, tiredness starting to catch up to her. Raven returned just in time, having chatted with a waiter for what felt like an eternity. “Having fun there, Robin?”

“My mask itches and I’m  _starving_ ,” she moaned, letting her head fall forward until it hit against the tabletop with a loud thonk. “I’m  _dying_ , Rae.  _Absolutely wasting away_.”

“If you weren’t so busy decomposing there, love, you’d see our food is here.” The empath laughed as her head flipped up from the table, fast enough to give anyone whiplash. She narrowly missed the plate of waffles that their waitress was setting on the table.

“They’re- they’re perfect, babe,” Steph took only a second to appreciate the golden squares before her. Each one lovingly filled and overflowing with the finest maple syrup the franchise had to offer, the plate guaranteed to be an even stickier mess than the patrol they had just finished running that night. The Robin hadn’t realized she had started crying until she saw the tears hitting the plate before her.

“I double checked with the staff, to make sure they absolutely drowned yours. Just like how you like them,” Raven explained, spreading some jelly on her own and taking a bite as she began cutting them up, “So what’s the verdict? Do we put them away for  _attempted_  murder or a  _successful_  one?”

Steph wiped at her eyes as she nodded, “ _Successful_. Let’s _lock ‘em up_.”

The next few minutes passed in companionable quiet, some soft country ballad playing from the jukebox as the staff continued cleaning up after the late night rush. Everyone seemed to breathe a little easier, as night settled around them, sirens fading out in the city as the worst of the criminal element took a rest.


	7. Eggplant vs Amethyst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> day three to round it all out!

“It’s  _darker_  for one thing,” Raven explained, trying her best to keep her voice even. She stopped tugging at her girlfriend’s curls, lest she accidentally pull her hair in annoyance. “ _Eggplant_  is closer to  _wine_ , or even to violet. Amethyst is closer to a more…  _traditional_  purple.”

“Okay, wait, time-out,” Steph held her hands up in a T-shape, almost shifting to sit upright from where her head rested in the Titan’s lap. She seemed to think better of it, as she settled back down and continued her thought from there. “Let’s go over that spectrum one more time. So there’s varying shades of  _blue_ -”

“And my cloak is on the darker end. It’s  _definitely_  navy.”

“-Right,  _navy_. But just shy of that, but before we get into  _purple_  territory, we have  _indigo_ -”

“Indigo  _isn’t_  a color, love.”

“Fuck you! It’s a color! I didn’t spend second grade learning to sing that  _Roy G. Bitch_  song for indigo to get  _ignored_! It’s a color!”

“Then how come everyone I’ve ever talked to about it always try to identify it as  _purple_  or  _blue_?”

“… Y'know, now that I think about it… Indigo is  _relatable_. Forget about the current bi-flag colors. Maybe the flag should just be  _one big swatch_  of indigo.”

“What? So when people ask, ’ _Hey, is that flag purple or blue?_ ’ or ’ _Do you like boys or girls?’_ , we can just say-”

“ _Yes_ ,” they echoed at the same time, chuckling tiredly.

“ _God_ … But back to my  _point_ -” Steph started again. “Indigo. Color status.  _Official_ -”

“ _Debatable_.”

“It’s  _literally_  the color of your eyes, babe, but go off. ANYWAYS, then we have  _violet_  on the  _official_ spectrum. Used by  _Crayola_  and art students everywhere-”

“But purple is usually  _considerably_  lighter than  _violet_  in shade-”

“And see…  _that’s_  where you lose me,” Steph sighed, finally sitting up to look her girlfriend in the eyes. “I mean… it’s  _purple_. Purple should be… the  _catchall_  for all the colors on that side of the color wheel. It feels weird to give it a  _specific_  shade-” This time, Raven took her hand as she interrupted her, enclosing it in both of hers, eyes pleading as they made contact.

“Darling, it’s  _important_  to me that you understand that it does have an assigned shade, though.” Her tone held a deadly seriousness to it that suddenly had Stephanie laughing as she realized the ridiculousness of their argument.

“Okay,  _fine_. I’ll believe it… If you admit  _indigo_  is a color!” The look of horror that dawned on the Titan’s face was nearly enough to make up for all of the frustration they had put themselves through. Raven made the move to playfully slap at the Robin’s arm, which Steph redirected with some finesse as she began wrestling against the empath.

It ended as Steph gained the slight advantage, pinning the Titan underneath her and demanding her  _unconditional_  surrender as they each howled with laughter.


	8. "You wanna bite?"

The empath had only stepped out for a moment. A simple errand while one tray of cupcakes was baking in the oven, and another cooling before she could add the frosting. A third had been long since prepped, and was nearly ready for packing. Everything would be ready for transport before the party at the manor.

And since Steph was in from her mission for the night, the doctor could stand to run down to the basement to check their laundry at this odd hour in the night. She was almost certain that her girlfriend was incapable of burning down the building while she was gone, and certainly hopeful that she’d keep an ear out regardless for when the timer ran out.

Upon her return with their load of laundry in hand, however, Raven could only watch in horror as the former girl wonder continued an assault on the confectionary that she had spent the better part of the evening perfecting.

It wasn’t so much the act of eating itself that she abhorred, but rather the fact that Stephanie seemed in no way at all inclined to stop anytime soon.

After watching her mindlessly inhale mini-cupcake after mini-cupcake, the empath finally choked out, “So… I take it they’ll be a hit with the Bats?”

To which the Spoiler whipped her head around, while also trying to maneuver out of her seat and cover the crime scene with a sweeping motion of her arm. And somehow between all of that movement, she only managed to fall out of the chair and onto the floor. Cupcake and frosting were already smeared across her face, it began mixing none too delicately with blood from a freshly split chin.

“OW! Oh god,  _ow_! Babe, don’t  _Batman_  me like that!  _Ow_ , ow!” Strings of curses and moans of pain could only be quieted by cool healing hands.

“Did a goon knock your last remaining brain cell loose, or did you simply forget that those cupcakes were meant for the whole family tonight?” Raven asked as she checked over Steph’s chin one last time for any lasting damage.

“Uh… can I plead the fifth?”

The empath closed her eyes and let go of a long-suffering sigh. “Please tell me you didn’t touch the oven before I came in at least.”

“Yeah, see, about that-” Steph laughed nervously as she reached for what remained, only a few meager minis not yet decorated with their finishing bat-sprinkles, “You wanna bite?”

Raven ran a hand over her face before snatching the offending treat from Steph’s hand.

“For the record,” she gulped, “I think you really outdid yourself, babe. I mean, the smell alone made me forget that they were for the party and-”

“Steph. Love. The more you talk, the deeper the hole is going to be-”

“Been dead, babe,” she smiled, “Done that. Don’t care to repeat-”

“And yet, she still talks,” Raven quipped back.

Stephanie put her hands up in defeat, before miming the act of zipping up her lips in response. 

‘ _Better_?’ she mouthed.

Raven tried biting back a smile, but couldn’t help herself.

‘ _Better_ ,’ she mouthed back.


End file.
